Survey: 21 per cent of Americans Living Paycheck to Paycheck on $100,000 Income

About 21 per cent of Americans who earn salaries of $100,000 or more say they are living paycheck to paycheck every month, according to a survey conducted by CareerBuilder.com. Also, one in ten workers didn’t put any money in their savings account.

In Africa, people subsist with $1 a day but in the U.S. even with $100,000 annual income, it doesn't seem to be enough for about 21 per cent of those who earn that high wage. Some of the reasons cited are the high gasoline prices, the slumping housing market and a weak economy, which force Americans to spend more for less. But experts blame their poor savings and bad spending habits. Ken Goldstein an economist at the Conference Board told CNBC.com:

Unquestionably, more people are living paycheck to paycheck now than 12 months ago...Americans have never been big savers under any economic circumstance or condition.

In the U.S. the amount of money saved has declined considerably. A recent Bureau of Economic Analysis found that the personal saving rate was only 1.2 per cent of after-tax income. A few years ago, the rate was negative indicating more spending than income. The CareerBuilder.com survey also found that one i -ten workers didn’t put any money in their savings account this year. Alyce Zollman, a financial consultant at Charles Schwab, warns unless they start saving and spending carefully it will affect their long-term financial future. Maybe the group, who think $100,000 is not enough to live on in the U.S., should read Charles Dickens' quote in David Copperfield:

"Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery."